47:463.4. Special license plates or hang tags for mobility impaired persons A. (1) On the application of any mobility impaired person whose impairment is permanent, the secretary shall issue a special license plate for the benefit of the applicant. The applicant may designate one recipient motor vehicle owned or leased by him, his spouse, his parents, his legal guardian, or by a legal entity which has designated the vehicle as intended for the exclusive use of that mobility impaired person. (2) Should the applicant designate a motor vehicle owned by his spouse, his parents, his legal guardian, or a legal entity, the owner shall indicate written assent and acceptance of the special plate with the understanding that it may be cancelled at will by the mobility impaired person, upon written notice from the mobility impaired person to the owner of the recipient motor vehicle and upon written notice to the secretary. A cancelled special plate of this nature shall be surrendered to the secretary and such plate may be reassigned to a motor vehicle as designated by the mobility impaired individual. No additional fee shall be charged for such reassignment until renewal charges become due upon expiration of the plate. (3) The person to whom a special license plate has been issued, shall surrender the plate to the secretary when: (a) He changes his place of residence to another state, country, or province. (b) He sells, exchanges, or donates the vehicle for which the license plate is issued. (c) Any person who violates the provisions of this Subsection may be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred and fifty dollars, or may be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both, for the first offense and, on the second and subsequent offenses, a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars may be imposed, or imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both. (4) Within forty-five days of the death of a mobility impaired person to whom a special license plate has been issued, it shall be the responsibility of the next of kin of that person to surrender the plate to the secretary. (5) Any person who fails to surrender a special license plate in compliance with this Subsection may be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. (6) The special license plates shall bear the international symbol of accessibility and shall be followed by such numbers or letters as the secretary finds expedient. Each initial application and subsequent renewal, except as provided for in Paragraph E(3) of this Section, shall be accompanied by a currently dated physicians statement certifying that the applicant is a mobility impaired person whose impairment is permanent. (7) Any mobility impaired person who has been issued a special plate under the provisions of this Section, and whose impairment is not certified as total or life-long, shall annually provide to the office of motor vehicles a currently dated physicians statement certifying that the individual is a mobility impaired person and that such impairment is expected to last for a minimum of one year from the date of the physicians certification statement. Failure to provide annual recertification statement shall result in suspension of such special parking privileges. B. (1) In addition to a special license plate, on the application for a hang tag made by any mobility impaired person whose impairment is permanent, and upon a showing of good cause, the secretary shall issue a hang tag, renewable as any license plate, which shall be valid until revoked or suspended. The secretary shall determine the form, size, and color of the hang tag, and the material of which it is to be made. The card shall bear the international symbol of accessibility. The secretary shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations relating to the issuance, revocation, surrender, and proper display of the tags. Each initial application shall be accompanied by a currently dated physicians statement which includes the physician's federal identification number certifying that the applicant is a mobility impaired person whose impairment is permanent. (2) No person to whom a hang tag is issued shall do either of the following: (a) Display or permit the display of the hang tag on any motor vehicle when having reasonable cause to believe the motor vehicle is being used in connection with an activity which does not include providing transportation for a mobility impaired person. (b) Refuse to return or surrender the hang tag, when required. (3) For the purpose of this Section, "good cause" shall mean the existence of any of the following circumstances: (a) The mobility impaired person submitting an application for a hang tag does not own a vehicle. (b) The mobility impaired person submitting an application for a hang tag needs or uses multiple vehicles in the performance of his employment or travel, or to obtain medical treatment. (c) Circumstances determined by the secretary to demonstrate compelling need. (4) When a person to whom a hang tag has been issued changes his place of residence to another state, country, or province, he shall surrender the hang tag to the secretary. Upon the death of a mobility impaired person to whom a hang tag has been issued, it shall be the responsibility of the next of kin of that person to surrender the tag to the secretary. C. (1) If a hang tag is lost, destroyed, or mutilated, the person to whom the tag was issued may obtain a duplicate by doing all of the following: (a) Furnishing suitable proof of the loss, destruction, or mutilation to the secretary. (b) Filing an application as required by this Section for the issuance of an original hang tag. (c) Paying a fee of three dollars for said reissuance. (2) Any person who loses a hang tag and, after obtaining a duplicate, finds the original, shall immediately surrender the original hang tag to the secretary or to any field office of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of motor vehicles, and shall not display the original hang tag on any vehicle for the purpose of exercising handicapped parking privileges. D. The secretary shall not issue special license plates, hang tags, or mobility impaired identification cards except as designated herein. Any mobility impaired person whose impairment is permanent may obtain a hang tag or mobility impaired identification card at no additional fee other than the issuance cost of three dollars. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, except as provided in Subsection C, the secretary shall not charge any fee in excess of ten dollars for the issuance of special license plates for mobility impaired persons. E. (1) The term "mobility impaired person" shall include any person who is impaired because of any of the following conditions: (a) Cannot walk two hundred feet without stopping to rest. (b) Cannot walk without the assistance of another person, walker, cane, crutches, braces, prosthetic device, or wheelchair. (c) Is restricted by a lung disease to such an extent that the person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air at rest. (d) Uses portable oxygen. (e) Has a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American Heart Association. (f) Has a diagnosed disease or disorder, including a severe arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic impairment, which creates a severe mobility limitation. (2) Repealed by Acts 1989, No. 728, § 2. (3) The term "permanent" means that the physical condition which qualifies the applicant for a special license plate or hang tag will last or is reasonably expected to last at least two years from the date on which the application is made or from the date specified by the certifying physician on his statement, whichever is longer. However, an applicant who presents a currently dated physician's statement certifying that the applicant's physical condition is a total or lifelong condition of mobility impairment, from which little or no improvement or recovery can reasonably be expected, shall not be required to submit a physician's statement certifying such condition upon subsequent applications for renewal of the license plate or hang tag. F. When a motor vehicle bearing plates or displaying a hang tag issued to a mobility impaired person as prescribed in this Section is being operated for the transport of the mobility impaired person, the motor vehicle may be parked for a period of two hours in excess of the legal parking period permitted by local authorities, except where local ordinances or police regulations prohibit parking on a highway for the purpose of creating a fire lane or where the ordinances or police regulations provide for the accommodation of heavy traffic during morning, afternoon, or evening hours or where the motor vehicle is parked in such a manner as to clearly be a traffic hazard. G. (1) Any person who is not a mobility impaired person as prescribed in this Section and who willfully and falsely represents himself as having the qualifications to obtain such special license plates, hang tag, or mobility impaired identification card authorized by this Section shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred fifty dollars, or shall be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both, and on subsequent offenses, shall be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or shall be imprisoned for not more than ninety days, or both. (2) Any person who utilizes a hang tag or a vehicle bearing a special plate to obtain handicapped parking privileges and has not transported a mobility impaired person in that vehicle prior to parking the vehicle, may be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred fifty dollars or shall be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both, and on the second and subsequent offenses, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or shall be imprisoned for not more than sixty days, or both. (3) Any mobility impaired person who allows his hang tag or specially licensed vehicle to be used, when said tag or vehicle is used to illegally access handicapped parking privileges by an individual not entitled to such special handicapped parking privileges shall have his handicapped parking privileges suspended for six months and shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred fifty dollars, or shall be imprisoned for not more than thirty days for the first offense, or both. On the second and subsequent offenses, said suspension shall be for one year, and the individual shall be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, in addition to suspension of said privileges, or shall be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both. (4) Any physician who willfully and falsely certifies that a person is mobility impaired in order to allow that person to obtain the special license plate, hang tag, or mobility impaired identification card authorized in this Section shall be fined one thousand dollars, or shall be imprisoned for not more than ninety days, or both. (5) Not later than January 1, 1995, any mobility impaired person who has a special license plate or a hang tag shall also have a pictured identification card as determined by Subsection J of this Section in his possession when using handicapped parking privileges. Any person who utilizes a handicapped parking area after January 1, 1995, without such identification may be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or shall be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both. (6) All law enforcement officers of this state or of any political subdivision thereof invested by law with authority to direct, control, or regulate traffic are authorized to enter upon private property within their respective territorial jurisdictions to enforce the provisions of this Section. (7) When a peace officer issues a citation for an alleged violation of the laws governing parking in a handicapped parking space, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the person in whose name the vehicle is registered was operator of the vehicle when the alleged violation was committed. H. It is the intent of the legislature that with regard to providing the services to the mobility impaired provided as a result of the issuance of a special license plate or hang tag, the issuance of a license plate is to be the preferred method in order to be certain that abuse of hang tags is kept to a minimum. I. Every mobility impaired person operating or otherwise being transported by a vehicle displaying the international symbol of the handicapped or the word "handicapped" on a valid special license plate, disabled veteran license plate, or hang tag shall be entitled to invoke all handicapped parking privileges provided in this Section, without regard to the location of the issuing authority, or the residence or domicile of the person invoking the handicapped parking privileges. "Issuing authority" as defined in this Section shall mean the office of motor vehicles of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or comparable government issuing authorities outside the state of Louisiana. J. (1) Upon initial application or first application after August 15, 1995 for renewal of a special license plate or hang tag, each mobility impaired person whose impairment is permanent shall have in his possession or shall obtain or renew a mobility impaired driver's license or mobility impaired identification card issued by the secretary. The secretary may include the designation "Mobility Impaired" as an abbreviation thereof, on the drivers' licenses and identification cards which are currently issued by the secretary. (2) The mobility impaired driver's license or the mobility impaired identification card shall: (a) Identify the person as mobility impaired whose impairment is permanent. (b) Include the doctor's federal identification number as it appears on the certificate of mobility impairment. (c) Include a photograph of the mobility impaired person. (d) The mobility impaired driver's license or the mobility impaired identification card shall include a place for the signature of the person to whom it is issued, or of that person's next of kin. When a person to whom a mobility impaired driver's license or a mobility impaired identification card has been issued changes his place of residence to another state, country, or province, he shall surrender the mobility impaired driver's license or mobility impaired identification card to the secretary. Upon the death of a mobility impaired person to whom a mobility impaired driver's license or mobility impaired identification card has been issued, it shall be the responsibility of the immediate family of that person to surrender the mobility impaired driver's license or mobility impaired identification card to the secretary. K. Upon the application of any institution providing transportation for mobility impaired persons, the secretary shall issue special license plates designating the vehicle or vehicles declared by the applicant to be used by him exclusively for the use of transporting mobility impaired persons. The license plates shall bear the international symbol of accessibility and shall be followed by such numbers or letters as the secretary finds expedient. Each initial application shall be accompanied by a currently dated statement verifying that the applying institution will use said vehicles exclusively to provide transportation for mobility impaired persons. A proportionate refund based on the remaining term of any other license plate is hereby authorized in favor of such eligible institutions. L. The provisions of the law relating to the issuance, revocation, and use of special license plates, hang tags, mobility impaired drivers' licenses, and mobility impaired identification cards shall be administered by the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and his authorized employee. All references to "the secretary" with respect to those laws shall be deemed to be references to the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, or to his authorized employees. M. Oversight review shall be conducted by the House and Senate Committees on Transportation, Highways and Public Works.

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